Arrange The Clues V
Relax The sun was beginning to set; as the darkness was starting to envelop the land. Even so, the group was scurrying to their next destination, as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, it was clearly in their sights; about five seconds later, they'd reached their destination. This place seemed nice, but massively eerie; the lodge looked like it hadn't been touched in a good long while. Momoko snarked, "Anyone wanna bet that this is haunted?" Wendy's knees began to knock. "H-haunted? Like g-g-ghosts?" She clung to Jason's robes again, eyeing the lodge with great trepidation. Iris began to chant, "If there's somethin' strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call-" Vivian elbowed her lightly. "Iris, there is a time and place for everything! But not now." "I...I don't think I wanna go..." Wendy replied timidly. Apparently, ghosts were not her thing. Ironic, considering she was merely a reflection of the genuine Wendy when one really thought about it. Jason placed a hand on her shoulder. "It is fine. I'll kill even the dead if they pose a threat." Iris interrupted, "They'll die even if they're killed." Ulalia responded, "Don't be ridiculous! Dead people can't be alive!" Momoko added in, "A real man never dies, even when he's killed!" Vivian finished, "Even if we kill you, you probably wouldn't die." Iris clutched the head. "...What?" "Can we just get on with it?" Yasaka snapped. Vivian nodded, surprisingly demurely. "Yeah, yeah." Slowly, Vivian pushed the snow-clad door open, causing droplets of white to descend down as the group entered the dusty hostel. "...Well, it's certainly abandoned." She peered to the right, witnessing a perfectly laid out banquet that looked brand-new. "...Wierd." Jason looked at the food with distrust in his eyes. "I'm not certain we should touch it." Iris, however, was already devouring a chicken leg. "Wha?" Vivian elbowed her once more. "It's probably poisoned, you fool. Spit it out-" Iris refused to; it was too delicious. Suddenly. Vivian grabbed Iris and performed a rather nasty version of the Heimlich Manuver, as she coughed up the chiken leg. Jason looked around the lodge. It seemed relatively harmless, but he wasn't sure. "I would assume this is here to make ourselves comfortable. However..." He frowned, and walked over to the table, looking at the food. "Wendy, Momoko, can you detect any traces of poison? Any lethal contamination to the food at all?" Wendy walked over, and breathed in deep through her nose. "I can't. It...it all smells fine, actually. I'm....I'm a little hungry." Her stomach growled. Vivian picked up a piece of calamari with her hands. "Hmm, I honestly don't see a problem with it then. A bit suspicious, sure, but hey, a meal's a meal. Dig in guys." Ulalia, of all people, was actually put off from this. "I think I've heard of this..." Momoko couldn't detect a single thing. "....Oh? What do you mean?" Ulalia rebuttled, "Ah, it's nothin'. Don't worry yer pretty little head 'bout it." Jason took a seat down at the head of the table, Wendy sitting as close to him as physically possible so that two chairs occupied the end of the table,and everyone else spreading out, Vivian and Iris on the left side while Ulalia and Momoko took the right side. "If nothing bears toxins...." Jason said cautiously, taking a bite out of chicken. "...enjoy the meal." Ulalia still remained rather cautious, "I'm still wary...but hey, what can you do. It's a meal, and my stomach is grumbling more than my grandpa." She took a bite of chicken. "...Little spicy, but it's still good..." Her eyes became sparkly for a moment. "I think I'mma seeing things..." Drugs and Treasure Wendy was already eating, relishing every bite since she was really hungry. It was surprising how fast the child could eat and still retain her table manners. Naturally, everyone around began eating, totally immune to the delusions Ulalia seemed to be experiencing... ...except Yasaka, who had yet to take a bite. Iris noticed Yasaka. "Hey, I'm a squirrel and I eat at the table like a human. Just 'cuz yer a cat doesn't mean you should eat like a cat." Yasaka turned her nose up at everything. "I'm not touching any of this. And I don't think anyone else should either." Sadly, no one was listening, as even Jason, who had decided thinking was best done full, was eating as well. Iris zoned out for a moment. "Whoa. Is it just me....or are the walls running away from me?" In her own mind, she witnessed something truly bizarre. The wall suddenly grew legs out of nowhere and began to scamper off. "JIVE TURKEY YOU DON'T NEED ME NO MORE." Ulalia's pupils dilated. "...Why is everyone naked? And why are Wendy's boobs the size of blimps!?" Wendy was babbling incoherently as she was spinning around, laughing dissonantly. Vivian was punching the wall, yelling, "Shut the hell up Ronald Raegan, I will tear this wall down before you!" Momoko, meanwhile, was climbing up the walls. "Spider-Momoko, Spider-Momoko, does whatever, a Spider-Momoko does~" Jason's eyes dilated as he muttered, "Oh man...the chicken is talking to me..." The chicken responded, "WHAT THE FUCK MAN. WHY DID YOU TEAR MY SKIN OFF. I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS." Yasaka sat there, looking at all of them as if they had gone insane. Well, they had. "...So, THAT is what it's like to chew 5 gum...WAIT, WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT!?" She hit her head with her tiny paws. "Ok, they've all lost their mind....there has to be something to help this..." She started flying around the dining room of the lodge, looking for an antidote. She found several strange things, "Canned Hyena Laughs" among them, and what appeared to be laundry in a cauldron, though this was in another room. Sadly, no antidote. She sunk to the ground, groaning. "What am I supposed to..." Then she caught the scent. The scene of hot water. She flew towards the back door of the lodge, and was greeted with the sight of hot springs. "These....these might work. I mean...I've seen water make people sober in stories." Heading back to the dining room (which was now in shambles), Yasaka raised her voice. "EVERYONE! We're having a sexy party out back! All you need to do is strip and follow me!" If Exceed could blush, she'd be beet red at even suggesting this, but she figured she'd stomach the embarrassment in the hopes of making everyone a little less high. Momoko's eyes suddenly focused on Yasaka; as she crawled off the wall and rushed over to Yasaka. "Can she swing, from a web~? No she can't, because she's a Momoko~" Suddenly, she began to strip ever swiftly, removing her clothes down to her underwear in a few moments. One had to wonder how she could do that. Vivian and Jason also complied, as Ulalia picked Wendy up and tore her clothes off rather crazily, laughing maniacally. Even when in this state Jason reached around and punched Ulalia in the face before resuming what he was doing. "They must be magic tits. They're like blimps, yet I feel nothing!" Ulalia grinned and also stole Momoko's bra and panties effortlessly, with nobody knowing how she could steal somebody's underwear that they wore with them not noticing a thing. Yasaka sighed. "...Why am I in this predicament?" She turned away from all of them. "Everyone, follow me, the party is this way." From the looks of it, that song by Four Non Blondes could be playing right about now. Momoko continued singing, "Watch out~ Here comes the Spider-Momoko~" Iris, meanwhile, could see the cieling growing wings and flying away, singing an unusual song. "WHY IS EVERYTHING FLYING." She shouted. Ulalia called out, "OH MY GOD WENDY IS FLYING AWAY WITH HER BOOBS." When really, this wasn't the case. Yasaka groaned, and flew over to the table. Maybe she could lead them with a bit of bait. "Everyone! Look at the chicken leg!" She dangled the chicken in front of everyone. "Follow me!" She flew off. Iris and the others followed her in a trance; Momoko still singing her 'theme song'. Iris' eyes were fixated upon the chicken as she scampered after Yasaka, running on all fours while holding Vivian's arm in her mouth, dragging her along for the ride. Wendy seemed to actually be flying. And of course Ulalia, was gibbering, "Oh my god...my hands, they can touch anything but themselves- oh." Yasaka tried to repress her irritation as she flew out the back to where the hot springs were. As the humans followed, she threw the chicken leg into the water. "Ok everyone, go get the chicken in the hot spring!" Predictably, Iris and the others dived into the spring; with Ulalia slam-dunking Wendy in. In an instant, it seemed that everything returned to normal...or as normal as one could get. "Whaaaaaa!?" Vivian was surprised; last thing she remembered, there was food in front of her. "The heck is going on!?" Iris then splashed her with...hot spring water. "Dammit Iri, that shit burns!" Iris put on her best 'coolface' in response. Wendy, quite surprised to see herself naked with no clue as to how it happened, swam over to Jason and clung to his bare form. Jason, meanwhile, looked lost in thought. "It would appear the meal was indeed laced with an odorless and tasteless hallucinogen. It is no surprised Momoko or Wendy couldn't detect it." He sank into the water, his arm on the edge of the spring. "Thank you, Yasaka. You woke us up." "It was nothing." Yasaka replied, relieved to see everyone returned to normal. Iris continued splashing Vivian with water, leading Vivian to hurl a fireball at her in retaliation; which was intercepted mid-flight by Momoko's own water. "Stop fighting, you fools. Just be glad we're fine, you know." Of course, a few moments later Iris splashed Momoko which lead the Water Dragon Slayer to blast her with ice in annoyance. Ulalia slumped; looking rather relaxed. "That was....I think that's what it's like to chew 5gum. Anyway, this is the location, right Momoko?" Momoko nodded. "Exactly. I say that in one of these springs we should find the mystery." "Just what I always wanted, to solve a mystery with nudists..." Yasaka muttered. Jason, naturally, paid this no need. "Momoko, what is the "treasure" located here?" Momoko pulled her map out of nowhere. "...Well-" Ulalia couldn't help but question this violation of physics. "...Wait a second. You got naked...and then you pulled that map out of...where?" Momoko responded, "Honestly, I do not know." It hurt Ulalia's brain just thinking about it, so she left it. "Argh!" Momoko continued, "Anyway, the treasure located here is something called the 'Scroll of Revalations'. Since we've come this far; it should give us quick access to the other two wonders. That means these last two will be an ace in the hole." "So...it should be somewhere under the water?" Wendy asked, looking around at the water. Maybe she could swim down and look...? Momoko nodded. "Correct. Though...it could be anywhere else. This thing is hazy. Nevertheless, Jason, you sit here and do not move. We'll search for it." Wendy immediately dove down under, her lower extremities flashing for Jason's eyes as she went down under the water. Opening her eyes, she could see everyone from the waist down, but she kept diving. Strangely...the hot spring was a bit deep. More like a pool than a hot spring. But what was she looking for? Momoko yelled down at Wendy. "There should be some black words inscribed around somewhere. Just trust me on this one." Iris commented; "I don't think she can hear you since she's underwater." Says the squirrel who breaks physics. Naturally, Wendy couldn't hear, but she had to resurface anyway, gasping for air. "I...haven't found anything. Should I be looking for something specific?" Momoko made hand signs somewhat sarcastically as she repeated her statement. Iris chimed, "And you need to find the computer room!" Momoko responded by slapping Iris in the back of the head in annoyance. "Don't continue with your gibberish." "Right!" Wendy wrapped a sphere of air around her head and dove right back down, now having the freedom of breath as she swam. "Words..." She frowned as she looked around at the depths of the spring. By a stroke of luck, she came across what looked like a smudge, until closer inspection revealed it to be tightly scrawled words. The words began to glow a vibrant golden colour; as a stream of light was released from the hot springs; sending Wendy up to the surface as the words emerged as well, taking upon their true form of a scroll of some sort. Momoko grinned. "Easier done than said, I guess." Wendy surfaced, swimming over to the scroll, now floating on the water. "Should I pick it up?" She wasn't sure, what if it was dangerous? Momoko nodded. "Yah, what's the worst that could happen? Some hoarde of demons come out of nowhere just because you didn't read the disclaimer at the end?" Wendy frowned. "That's not funny, I don't want to get eaten by demons..." However, she picked the scroll up and tossed it at Momoko, aiming for her head. After being smacked across the head with the scroll, Momoko flinched, almost doubling over in slight irritation before she flipped back up, put on a serious face and responded, "It's true. It could happen." Suprisingly, Vivian stopped Momoko. "Wendy, she's lying. Don't lie to children, Momoko. It's not good." Momoko glared at her; as befitting their opposing elements. Momoko grabbed the scroll though, and opened it. "Now, since we'll be eaten by demons, anyone want to close their ears or something?" Jason sighed. "Momoko, just open it." He said this both out of frustration at Momoko, and concern for Wendy, who had once again swam his way to cling to his side. The thought of being eaten didn't sit well with her. Momoko began to read. "...Going by the fact that you've opened this scroll, I assume that you've "acquired" the other four treasures before this. It seems that soon you will stumble upon the secrets of all demonkind." Momoko's interest was piqued. "Look at the patterns on the walls. The light in the center represents either the two primordial demons arriving upon the world. The three lights around it were thought to be the Guardian Trio. But, then, I realized that there may be another way of interpreting this. Could this triangle of lights actually represent a different trio? Could they be the Ancient Three? And the large light at their center. Does it represent something else? Could it be what created this world of ours?" Everyone looked dumbfounded as Momoko narrated. She turned back to them with an exasperated expression. "...I'll explain later about these trios." "You know the God Slayers? It's said that they were each given an individual element via lucid dreams by the twin beings of alpha and omega, which were set free from the Exalted One. This thing must be something that's transcended; a being more powerful than anything you could even imagine in your wildest dreams. Sure, it does not sound plausible, but it sort of makes sense. I'm not even sure where Guild Haven fits into this scheme of things; but it's said at the very beginning of that realm, neither time nor space were stable. I think that tells us something about what created it." "It must have been as powerful as the beings who conceptualized the God Slayers, the rulers of alpha and omega. In some way, though, whatever created Guild Haven has a power opposite of them." Momoko was tempted to skip this. "A long time ago, I wonder what sort of person created this myth? The Alpha Raze and the Omega Discharge...To the people back then, those beings really must have appeared to rule over the world. Seeing them must have shaken the people to their very core. Though....this is still a myth, but please take it into consideration. That is all." Momoko finished reading. "...So, whaddya think about THAT?" Iris seemed to have fallen asleep. "Demons...myths of old..." Jason frowned. "I am quite surprised to hear all of this. If this world hadn't shown the impossible before, I would believe the scroll to be the ramblings of a lunatic. However...I do believe there is some truth to the words you've read." Wendy looked worried. "But...doesn't this mean we're in over our heads?" "I'd think so..." Yasaka groaned. "Demons...borderline deities...and we all seem to be wrapped up right in the middle of it. So much for changing World Order, it looks like we're about to have the gods on high mad at us soon!" Yasaka was far from pleased. Momoko snapped in response. "But think about this way- if we learn even more, we'll be famous! The mysteries which have plagued these realms for so long...we, and we alone, can close up all this speculation! Isn't that exciting? Gods, schmods. We can take them down, easily." Momoko really was the world's worst archaeologist. When she was not putting her foot through inestimably valuable samples of ancient pottery, she was stealing every slightly shiny thing that was ever buried with some royal dead guy and hoarding them in her basement. Demons and dragons and gods were no exception to this. "So, who's in?" Jason shot a cold glare at Momoko, which seemed to resonate down into her soul. "We're not in this for fame, Momoko. The entire reason we're going on this treasure hunt is to discover it's true secrets, not to profit off our findings. We are not archaeologists. With these new findings, this errand has taken an interesting turn. Gaining a monetary profit is out of the question." Momoko pouted for a moment. "You wouldn't say that if you knew that it was something far bigger than that. If we don't step in here, then who knows what will happen. Vivian told me about a couple of Dark Guild you lot fought a while back. What if they managed to harness power like this? Then what?" "I believe you misunderstood me." Jason replied, placing an arm outside of the hot spring as a rest. "I have no qualms with involving our guild in this mystery. However, we are not making a single monetary gain in this." Momoko didn't look too happy. "Fiiiine, if you say so. But if you find us running low on cash, I'm blaming you. So, this should be interesting, don't you think?" "I agree." Jason replied, relaxing into the water. "But...even I have my limits. For now, let us rest in these waters. I don't usually say this, but...have fun." ---- "Waiting for someone?" A man with scaled skin, wearing a blood-red cloak with snake-eyes on the hood shuffled over towards a young man with flowing, purple hair, and high-class attire of a similar colour. "It's not like you to be out in the open like this, Crux." His voice seemed more like a whisper than anything else, and yet it carried so easily. The black haired youth gave the man an aside glance with responding in a blunt tone, "Exacta." He tapped his foot against the ground; clearly impatient. "Oh, come on. I cannot be standing here for so damn long...I hate standing. It's not fitting of my fame." "Quite the princess." A man's voice echoed as he faded into sight. The familiar man in the shroud of the white baboon. "Crux Kouga and Anguis Bane, I take it? A pleasure to meet you both. I am Mr. E." Crux scowled at the man. "Don't call me princess, y'hear!?" He seemed to have a...bad temper. "Anyway, I guess it's good to meet ya'. But I do believe...." he looked out of the window, seemingly not acknowledging E's presence. "You have some important news for me?" "Yes. As of a matter of fact, I have...information you'll find most savoury." He chuckled as he took a seat on a chair that appeared...just...there. Perhaps he conjured it. "You're interested in the origin mythos, am I correct?" Crux responded quietly, "Correct. Once I unlock the secrets to that story...I will hold the world in the palm of my hand. And since you're assisting me oh-so-nicely, I may let you in a cut of the profit, E." Even though he was quiet about it, one could not deny the smugness in his tone. Anguis frowned. "I don't see a reason to blindly tru-" However, Mr. E cut him off. "That is just what I wanted to hear. I have procured information upon the location of the Omega Demon, Gehaburn. Specifically, it is within the sword of Jason LaHote. The blade itself shares the name with the demon. That particular trick is old magic." Crux looked skeptical. "It's of the exact same origin as my Elysdeon. Both blades hewn from the origins of this world. I think there's a connection there; and honestly, once light and darkness merge, an unstoppable force will be born which will give me ultimate power. Now...keep going with the explanation. Where can we find LaHote now, then?" "LaHote would be located currently in the land of Iceberg." Mr. E replied, starting to stand up. "His guild is on a mission there. If you wish to confront him, it is in your best interests to head there." Crux's eyes sharpened, gleaming with determination. "Alrighty then...! Let's get this show on the road, shall we? My ideals...they're coming one step closer to completion!" FIN